Internet contextual communication system

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a system and method for presenting to a user relevant areas of distributed computer network sites. In particular, the invention disclosed infers and cross reference user mind sets with data stores of potential user goals. The user mind sets indicate a navigational goal of a user over the distributed computer network. In addition, the invention cross-references indicated user goals with data stores of service and service providers providing those services. The invention presents targeted service and service providers to the user across the distributed computer network thereby enabling the user to navigate towards the user goal.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a U.S. national phase application under 35 U.S.C.§371 of International patent application Ser. No. PCT/US01/45483 filedOct. 31, 2001 and claims the benefit of provisional U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 60/244,725 entitled “INTERNET NAVIGATION TOOL,”filed Oct. 31, 2000, provisional U.S. patent application Ser. No.60/296,599 entitled “CONTEXTUAL ADVERTISING AND AFFILIATE MARKETING”filed on Jun. 7, 2001, and provisional U.S. patent application Ser. No.60/296,590 entitled “CONTEXTUAL CUSTOMER-RETENTION TOOL & NETWORK” filedon Jun. 7, 2001, the disclosure of all of which are incorporated hereinby reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to providing content, servicesand advertising about services by means of the Internet and, moreparticularly, to bringing to customers various services, content,advertising about services and affiliate links that are automaticallydetermined to be relevant to the customer's current interest on theInternet.

Two large-scale and complementary problems have emerged in the onlineworld. First, it is increasingly difficult for users to find the onlinecontent and services that suit their needs in real time. Second, it isincreasingly difficult for online service providers to make it easy fortargeted customers to find their offerings that would be useful to thecustomer at the current moment. Both of these problems are a function ofthe current size and exploding growth of the Internet. An ideal solutionwould allow users to focus on what they want, allow service providers tofocus on what they offer, and alleviate the effort currently required onboth sides to find each other.

A typical company with a presence on the Internet, makes availablecontent or some other service at its web site where it can be accessedautomatically or semi-automatically by a group of consumers or users.For example, headline news is a content-based service made available bycompanies like CNN, NBC, the BBC, the Associated Press, and so on. Theseare available “online” via traditional web browsers by users who visitthe appropriate company's web site. Also book-selling is another serviceprovided by service provider companies like Amazon.com,Bamesandnoble.com, 1BookStreet.com, and so on, which provide for thesale of books, music and electronics. These web sites may also provideprofessional and customer reviews of the products.

The users interact with the services at a web site via a personalcomputer running a web browser application (such as Microsoft InternetExplorer or Netscape Navigator). This user might also access suchservices via other means, such as from a personal digital assistant(PDA), wireless digital telephone, a traditional telephone by voicecommands, and so on. In addition, service providers can also introducesuch services directly, such as through e-mail or instant messaging.Ultimately through any combination of these and other means, the useraccesses some such service.

Some service providers aggregate services on their web site to form a“value chain,” i.e., a group of related services and content. This isdone in order to capture as much of the user's attention as possible.Such value chains develop because online services are created andevolved with great speed on the Internet, and some of these serviceproviders develop relationships with each other in complex networksbased on the applicability of the service of one provider to theservices of other provider. The traditional notion of a “value chain” isa path through these related services that brings a collection of itemsor services of value to a user. One way a user experiences a value chainis through a single trusted service provider that aggregates otherrelevant services, such that a complete value chain is present at thatprovider's site. Users can also create their own value chain ad hocthrough search engines.

FIG. 1 shows a prior art navigational experience for a user by which apotential customer 10 with a personal computer running a browser uses acommunications system 12 to access the Internet 14. The user makescontact with a web site 16, which may provide links to other services atthat site or other sites 18 to form a value chain. For example, accessto the Amazon.com site provides the customer with the following servicesrelevant to the book purchase process:

-   -   Book search by title, author, subject, ISBN    -   Book excerpts    -   Reviews by experts    -   Reviews by customers    -   Related books listings    -   Book pricing and purchase capability        By aggregating these services, Amazon offers to its users that        selection of services which it believes will likely be most        relevant to its customer's goal in visiting its online        bookstore. It also provides links to other web sites that Amazon        believes will be of interest to all visitors to its site. This        pattern of user-to-services interaction established by the web        site is illustrated in the model in FIG. 2.

In FIG. 2, also a prior art approach, the user 10, via atelecommunications line 12 connects through the Internet 14 to thepreferred service provider's web site 16, i.e., Amazon.com. At the website, the user is provided access to a number of relevant services21-24, designated V1-V4, that compose a value chain 16. Each service21-24 may be selected by the user by operation of his or her browser.These services can be at the site or accessed through links to othersites 25-28 which provide services, or even related value chains, e.g.,A9, the service, at site 28, the value chain.

However Amazon cannot provide similar value to users in the generalcase, i.e., when they are not at Amazon, when they are not looking for aproduct Amazon sells, when they are not shopping for a product at all,and so on. In particular, there is no current notion of a value chainthat is not owned and operated by a particular site-based e-business.

As another example, a consumer looking to buy a particular stock atE*Trade.com might want to see charts from BigCharts.com, SEC filingsfrom Edgar.com, discussion forums from Yahoo.com, insider trading fromInsiderTrading.com and Press/News Capsules from Bloomberg.com. In thisexample, no fewer than six different service providers (perhaps eachwith their own value chain) can add value to a user's purchasingdecision or goal. In order for any of these services to add value inthat decision, either the user has to know about them in advance orE*Trade has to integrate all of this content on its site. Similarly, inorder for E*Trade to get access to this consumer, either the user has toknow about E*Trade and decide to visit, or E*Trade has to manageaffiliate relationships with the other service providers in this valuechain so they will have links on their sites to E*Trade. It is difficultto negotiate, setup and manage on a real time basis such relationships.

This “web” of services as illustrated in FIG. 2, includes tremendousvolumes of valuable information and services, yet users of theseservices are burdened with the significant difficulty of finding thoseselect services that are complementary to their current goal. Thus, thearchitecture of the Internet is a significant burden to both userslooking for consumer services and the providers of those products overthe Internet. There is a need to address this fundamental problem byproviding a way for users and service providers to find each other whenand where they are most needed.

Further, online companies spend vast sums placing advertisements on theInternet, which advertisements have poor responses because they are mostoften viewed by a person on the Internet at a time when they are notparticularly relevant to the mind set of the user at the time, i.e., thegoal of the user in being on the Internet in the first place. In orderto improve the situation, online retailer utilize performance basedmarketing methods, e.g., the affiliate marketing programs thatcompensate the affiliate based on performance, that is, for example thenumber of customers that are directed to the site from the affiliatesite. However, as noted, these companies have to spend vast amounts ofmoney and effort to ensure that the affiliate sites maintain current andup to date links, in order to use the affiliate sites as a vehicle forproviding timely promotions to users. The performance of both onlineadvertising and online affiliate marketing would increase significantlyif the advertisements and the affiliate links were automaticallytargeted to the current interest or mind-set of the user.

Much of the online advertising industry attempts to target users basedon user demographics or perceived product preference. Certain sites,e.g., major search engine sites, advertisers also attempts to targetuser by keyword-based targeting. However, this type of marketing doesnot capture the opportunity to present a product that is in-line with auser's current goal. Just because a particular consumer enjoys rockmusic, does not mean that at the time when they are looking to buy acomputer, they have an interest in seeing an advertisement about a CDfor the latest music group. Even if the user is currently searching forinformation within a particular general subject, that does not mean theyhave an interest in an advertisement about the subject that does notaddress their particular interest. For example, Hilton hotels mightchoose to advertise on an affiliate travel site in order to presenttheir promotions to users who are planning to travel. However, if thepromotion is a discount for Hilton hotels in San Francisco, and aparticular user is planning to travel to Los Angeles, then there is notan exact match between the promotion and the user's goal and a potentialopportunity to make a sale is lost, assuming that Hilton Hotels has apromotion for a stay in Los Angles. Thus there is a need for advertisersand affiliate sites to be able to serve contextually targetedadvertisement and affiliate links to users that encompass the completeor detailed mind-set of the customer.

In addition to trying to attract new customers, online service providersalso spend much of their marketing dollars in an effort to reachprevious customers who like their service, but who later either forgetabout those services, cannot find them again, or do not appreciate thatthe service is relevant to their current activity. With the Internet'sexploding growth it is extremely frustrating for customers to try tokeep track of all the various services that are available to them and toremember which service providers they liked the most. While more modernbrowsers provide “Favorites” or “Bookmarks” for retaining informationthat allows quick access to sites, the user must 1) at the time of thevisit to the site request the URL of the site to be stored 2) organizethose bookmarks in such a way that they are organized optimally. Unless,the user remembers the Bookmark and recalls to use it while making arelevant search, the information can be lost. Thus, the Internet is notdesigned to provide ways for companies to reach prior customers atpoints of need and it does not facilitate alerting past customers to newservices provided by the company.

As an example, take a consumer who reads a useful review on a particularcomputer at Cnet.com. At some later date the consumer is interested inpurchasing a Compaq computer and goes to Compaq.com. The consumer wouldlike to read a review about the computer. However, if Compaq does nothave reviews or the customer does not want to rely on Compaq's reviews,and the consumer does not remember the name of the review sitepreviously visited, Cnet.com loses the opportunity to have a repeatcustomer and the consumer does not get the value of reading the review.Thus there is a need for a way for companies to provide their customerswith contextual, deep-navigated links back to their services when it ismost relevant to the customer.

These problems that exist on the Internet also exist as a microcosmwithin individual organizations and enterprises. For example, manyorganizations, especially those relatively larger and older companies,own a variety of computer systems each of which performs a set offunctions and which communicates with a number of other such computersystems. These systems are often built on heterogeneous technologies,making the collaboration among them more difficult to implement and morebrittle to change once implemented. There exists prior art related tothe process of creating a homogenous communication infrastructure onwhich these various systems can more fluidly collaborate, this in theindustry is called the space of Enterprise Application Integration(EAI). However the technology solutions in the EAI space still leave animportant problem unsolved: how to enable users to navigate among thesemany services effectively.

An example of this problem is integrating an effective customerrelationship management practice into a business, especially on a largescale. Often a customer's order processing takes place in one system,billing in another, customer service in another, and new productpromotions and sales calls in yet another system. The first problem isenabling these various systems to communicate, which primarily is thespace of EAI technologies. The problem that remains in addition is how,for example, to enable a user entering a customer-service ticket tonavigate seamlessly in real time to that customer's order history,bill-paying patterns, responses to sales solicitations, and otherappropriate services in the enterprise, without overhauling all thosesystems as a complete EAI implementation often requires.

This invention, pertaining to a contextual communication system ingeneral, is just as applicable to private Intranets and otherproprietary technology system integrations as it is to the Internet onthe whole.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a system and method that connectsrelevant services, content, advertising and affiliate links around theuser's navigational goal in navigating the Internet. The navigationalscheme of the present invention is content based.

In an illustrative embodiment, the system is an electronic companion,manifested as a browser plug-in or as a complete web-browserapplication, adapted to understand or infer the user's current goalbased on his navigation of the Internet (or of his private intranet)with the browser, also known as content-based navigation. It candynamically bring together links to many other services relevant toachieving that goal. As a result, these other services are one clickaway from the user's current web location. The system then facilitatesthe user's interaction with these other services in order to allow theuser to progress toward his goal. By virtue of being goal-oriented, theinvention simultaneously provides a powerful new way for serviceproviders to reach targeted users, i.e., a single place to reach usersbased on their mind set rather than location on the Internet.

The browser plug-in or other implementation of the system of the presentinvention is set up with contextual value chains that are not sitespecific. Instead, they are collections of logical service that thesystem operator has determined are related to a wide variety of Internetnavigational goals as well as an understanding of the many sites thatprovide each such service. This determination may be based on the systemmanager's independent assessment or on affiliate relationships. Thecontextual value chain is supported by “context inference” which allowsthe browser to infer the goal of the user from the URL from keywordsthat appear in the content of web pages and the structural relationshipof these keywords, and/or from search terms that the user plugs in, andto suggest that goal to the user for selection. If the user selects oneof the suggested goals, they are diverted to the value chain which hasbeen established in the system. In addition, the system can generateincome for its operator based on “context marketing” in which theopportunity to market products and services may be directed to usersbased on the goal of their Internet navigation as inferred by thecontext of their activity.

The present invention allows companies to provide contextually targetedadvertisements and affiliate links to Internet and Intranet users.Because the invention enables a contextual understanding of a customer'scurrent online activities and of the objects on the page the customer iscurrently viewing, a company participating in the system can pick themost contextually relevant advertisement or affiliate link to present tothe user. As a result, companies that use the present invention willprofit from significantly increasing revenues and click-through rates byestablishing a high correlation between the advertisement or affiliatelinks being served and the user's current mind set. Furthermore, theseadvertisements and affiliate links can be targeted to the actual productand product characteristics mentioned on the user's browser or the webpage the user is currently viewing. This detailed understanding can alsoenable companies to realize revenues from cross sell and up sellopportunities.

In addition, the technological infrastructure of the present inventioncreates channels for service providers to reach existing customers atthe time and place where they most need the service(s). In particular,the technological infrastructure not only enables a contextualunderstanding of a customer's current online activities and of theobjects on the page the customer is currently viewing, but it has theability to automatically link previously visited sites to the relevantvalue chains. This allows the system to inform the customer of relevantservices that the customer has used in the past from a particularservice provider, thus improving the service provider's ability togenerate repeat consumption of their services by previous onlinecustomers.

Companies that utilize the system of the present invention will profitfrom strengthening their relationships with existing customers byreminding them of their relevant services that have been used in thepast. These companies will also increase brand awareness and loyalty bybeing accessible one click away from anywhere on the Internet. Further,by understanding the context of the customer's Web navigation, thesecompanies can automatically alert customers to new services and changesin existing services when those services would be most useful to thecustomer's current use of the Internet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other features of the present invention will be morereadily apparent from the following detailed description and drawings ofan illustrative embodiment of the invention in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of prior art Internet navigation;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a prior art site specific value chain;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the construction of a contextual valuechain according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the maintenance of registries for acontextual value chain according to an aspect of the present invention;

FIGS. 5-9 are a sequence of illustrations of a user's screen, using oneof a multitude of possible user interfaces, while navigating theInternet using the contextual value chain of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of the construction of contextualadvertisements and affiliate links according to the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of the maintenance of the registry forcontextual advertisements and affiliate links according to an aspect ofthe present invention;

FIGS. 12-13 are illustrations of advertisements targeted towards thecontent of the page;

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of the construction of a single client'scontextual services according to the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of the maintenance of the registry forcontextual services according to an aspect of the present invention; and

FIGS. 16-19 are a sequence of illustrations of a customer's screen,using one of a multitude of possible user interfaces, while navigatingthe Internet using the contextual services of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF AN EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

The Contextual Value Chain provided by the system and method of thepresent invention is designed for offering users a high-value suite ofcontextual services independent of the site on the Internet they arevisiting. Once it has been set up, providing, the contextual servicesburdens neither users nor service providers with the maintenance andapplication of these value chains. The value chain of services may beconstructed in real time and/or it can be carried out prior to use.

The present invention may be embodied in part or in whole as a plug-into the user's web browser; but, it can also have other manifestations.It is made complementary to, or to facilitate the user's current onlinegoal or objective (e.g., a navigational path for information about andthe purchase of a product) and as such supports a content-basednavigation paradigm.

The system requires a Services Registry, which is a data store thatidentifies a set of unique services known or identified as part of atypical user goal. The registry maps each service to a representativeset of known providers of that service. For example, below is asimplified illustration of the concept of a Services Registry:

SERVICE PROVIDER Book seller Amazon.com Book seller Barnesandnoble.comBook seller 1bookstreet.com Music seller Amazon.com Music sellerCDNow.com Music seller MP3.com Electronics reviewer Cnet Electronicsreviewer Amazon.com Electronics reviewer ZDNet

The system further requires a Mind-set Registry, which is a data storethat records unique mind set categories—or goals—into which users tendto fall while they are using the services. These mind set categories arederived from the notion that users seek out and use services in order toaccomplish a goal; the mind sets of looking to accomplish these goalsare what are categorized and recorded in this registry. This registryalso maps each goal to a super set of services that tend to be relevantto users looking to accomplish that goal. For example the following is asimplified illustration of the concept of this registry:

GOAL SERVICE Buy a computer Computer seller Buy a computer Pricecomparison engine Buy a computer Computer user reviews publisher Buy acomputer Auctioneer Buy a computer Internet Service Provider See a movieMovie ticket seller See a movie Movie reviewer See a movie Movie trailerpublisherNote that the Mind-set Registry is also intended to be, but does notneed to be, the following:

-   -   accessible via automated processes, such as electronic databases    -   edited by human experts    -   edited explicitly and/or implicitly by user communities        (implicit editing would be those new associations inferred by        automated processes that are able to accompany users while they        access the services)    -   edited by automatic discovery systems

Further, the system requires a Registry Editor that has the ability tocreate, read, update, and delete listings in a registry (either theMind-set Registry or the Services Registry). Note that a Registry Editormay be either a person or an automated tool, or a combination.

Finally, the system needs a Match Maker, which is responsible formatching user mind sets (goals) with a collection of services andservice providers. In order to do this, it communicates with users, aServices Registry, and a Mind-set Registry. Note also that the MatchMaker is intended to take the form of automated software, though itmight also take other forms such as one or more people, or a combinationof people and automated technology tools. It is also intended to have,but need not have, the following capabilities:

-   -   Rank services and service providers according to their        priorities and/or appropriateness to that user at that time    -   Apply rules to the context of that user, his or her mind set,        and the collection of services and service providers. These        rules include, but are not limited to, identifying cross-selling        opportunities and up-selling opportunities.        In a given contextual domain there will be a collection of        users, a collection of known services and service providers, and        a single Mind-set Registry, Services Registry, and Match Maker.

The process of constructing a Contextual Value Chain (“CVC”) requiresinteraction between a single user and the Match Maker, between the MatchMaker and the two Registries, and also private work done by the MatchMaker itself as illustrated in FIG. 3. The process begins when the User10 announces his mind set to the Match Maker 30 and completes when theMatch Maker delivers the CVC back to the user. In particular, theprocess is as follows:

-   -   1. The User 10 announces his or her current mind set to the        Match Maker 30. This “announcement” can be either explicitly        made by the user or implicitly made on behalf of the user via a        surrogate, like an automated inference tool that accompanies the        user while navigating. This “mind-set” is intended to take the        form of a goal, but is not limited to that form (for example,        the mind-set of looking to buy a computer, or the mind set of        looking to plan a party). An explicit mind set may be in the        form of a URL, a stated goal, or Search term entered into the        User's web browser, e.g., Compaq.com or “computer.” It may also        be implicit, e.g., an Amazon.com URL implies the user is        interested in, i.e., has a mind set directed to, the purchase of        books. Also, the Compaq.com URL may be interpreted not as an        explicit mind-set to purchase a Compaq computer, but an implicit        mind-set to purchase a computer in general. Furthermore, by        examining the content delivered to users (e.g. via web pages)        and by extracting relevant keywords and structured objects        composed of these keywords, the Match Maker 30 can that much        more accurately infer likely mind sets and goals with        specificity and via a scalable means.    -   2. The Match Maker 30 cross-references the user's mind set with        the Mind-set Registry 34 to determine the set of known services        that are appropriate to include in the CVC. The Match Maker 30        may also apply a set of rules to re-order and/or filter the set        of services.    -   3. The Match Maker cross-references the set of services with the        Services Registry 38 to determine the known service providers of        each of those services. The Match Maker may also apply a set of        rules to re-order and/or filter the set of service providers        associated with each service.    -   4. The Match Maker may apply a set of rules to add special        enhancements to the CVC, such as cross-selling promotions, and        then the Match Maker completes the construction of the CVC (the        list of services and the list of service providers for each        service, including additional custom services or promotions).    -   5. The Match Maker 30 provides the CVC to the User 10. This        “providing” is intended to be implemented by sending the CVC        encoded to a tool, such as, but not limited to, a software tool        that decodes the CVC and displays it to the user via a graphical        user-interface (GUI) or other user interface. For example, if        the user's mind set is to buy a computer, the CVC contents might        look like this:

S1. Compare computer prices SP1. MySimon SP2. DealTime SP3. . . . S2.Read user reviews SP1. Cnet SP2. Deja SP3. . . . S3. Find an ISP SP1.AOL SP2. Earthlink SP3. MSN SP4. . . . S4. . . .

The databases and application software that make up the Match Maker 30,the Mind set Registry 34 and the Services Registry 38 may be in the formof a plug-in to the User's browser. Periodically database contents canbe updated by having the browser connect to an Internet site of acompany managing the system. During this connection the site providesthe system with current versions of the data. The current versions mayinclude new rules, new goals or mind sets and new services and serviceproviders. As an alternative, the databases may be maintained at thesystem manager web site and the browser is directed to it for access tothe latest data whenever the browser is used.

In order to create CVC's that are accurate and take maximal advantage ofthe services and providers that exist, there must be processes to keepthe Registries current and also to grow their size to accommodate newservices and providers over time. The maintenance is accomplished by acollection of independent processes involving the Mind-set Registry, theServices Registry, one or more Registry Editors, and the community ofusers and service providers. The following is a description of theseprocesses as illustrated in FIG. 4:

Mind-set Registry maintenance is managed by one or more Mind setRegistry Editors 40 (either person(s) 42 or automated tools 43 or acombination). These mind set editors 40 interact with the user communityto discover new mind sets (goals) that should be added to the Mind setRegistry 34, and also which services should be associated with thatmind-set. An example of an automated tool 43 acting as a Mind setRegistry Editor is one that collects recommended new goals offered byusers, applies some rules (filtering or otherwise), and then adds theminto the Registry. Mind set Registry Editors may also be people 42 whoread, update, and delete listings in the Mind-set Registry on their ownwithout interaction with users or other entities.

Services Registry maintenance is also managed by Service RegistryEditors 44 (either person(s) 45 or automated tools 46 or a combination).Each service provider has the ability to communicate with a ServiceRegistry Editor 46 in order to suggest that:

-   -   a. it is a provider of a registered service; and    -   b. a new service, which is not yet listed in the Services        Registry, should be added (possibly also suggesting that it is a        provider of that service). Each such Services Registry Editor 44        then may apply some rules (filtering or otherwise) and then        interact with the Services Registry 38 to make changes in the        listings and associations.

Service Registry Editors 45 may also read, update, and delete listingsin the Services Registry on their own without interaction with serviceproviders or other entities. These editors are typically persons hiredby the system manager to perform this function. However, theseindependent editors 45, as well as Mind set Registry Editors 42, may bewholly or partially automated through the use of web spider technology.

In carrying out this update function with independent editors, someinputs may be the result of independent searches of the Internet by theeditors. However, some input may be by way of contractual relationshipsbetween the system's administrator and service providers. Suchrelationships may be based on an agreement by which the service providerpays to be listed in value chains of various sorts. This may be an upfront payment or a payment for each user directed to the provider's website by the present invention.

The process of ongoing registry maintenance as illustrated in FIG. 4 istypically performed by or under the control of the system'sadministrator, and the results are made available at the systemadministrator's web site for downloading to the web browsers of theusers.

In use, the software defining the present invention is installed as aplug-in to the user's web browser. Then, as an example, if the user hasthe goal of purchasing a computer, the user may insert the URL“Sony.com” into his or her browser in order to look for computers. (FIG.5). When the user arrives at the computing area of the Sony site, theContext Bar 50 (at the bottom) infers or guesses that the user might betrying to buy a computer, or learn about computers, or research acomputer. These goals are suggested to the user as tabs 51-53 in theContext Bar 50. A drop down pick list 56 is also provided in the ContextBar 50 so that the user can select a particular computer (filtered forSony). This is a form of context inference.

If the user selects the “Buy a computer” tab 51 and also selects aparticular computer in the pick list as the computer to focus on, e.g.,the “Sony VAIO J100,” a Contextual Value Chain 60 is shown to the userin the Context Bar 50 as illustrated in FIG. 6. If the other tabs 52 or53 are selected, other value chains are presented (not shown). Any ofthe services shown in that bar may be linked to by clicking on the nameof the service, e.g. “purchases,”“warranty,” “Internet Service,”“Review,” “Software,” etc. Each service is tied to a default provider,though there are also various alternate providers that the user mightchoose to associate with that service instead). If for example the userclicks on the “Review” service, the browser is caused to deep navigatedirectly to the page at CNET containing the review of the Sony VAIOPCV-J100. See FIG. 7. Also the navigation event is added to the activityhistory 72 on the right side on the Context Bar 50, indicating that theuser is working toward buying a computer, and has now taken one step,which is to review that model VAIO.

Further, a promotion 74 appears from Compaq in the space at the leftside of the Context Bar 50. In FIG. 7 this advertisement is indicatedonly as the word “Compaq”; however, it may be an actual advertisement.Further, the name or advertisement will typically be a hyperlink to theservice provider's web site, e.g. to Compaq's site. The appearance ofthe Compaq promotion 74 assumes that Compaq has bought the right fromthe system administrator to offer promotions in the context of usersworking toward buying computers. The alternate provider, i.e., Compaq,may purchase the right to advertise whenever a user demonstrates a“computer” mind set, or it may purchase a more limited right. Forexample, it is possible that Compaq has bought only the right toadvertise to those users in the “Review” stage of the value chain set upfor the process of purchasing a computer. This is a form of contextmarketing. If the user clicks on the Compaq advertisement, the browsertakes them to the Compaq web site. Thus, Compaq can pay the systemadministrator a flat fee or a fee based on the number of users thatclick on to the Compaq link.

Next the user may click on the “Search Auction” service which looks forcomputers with similar specifications at an auction site. The browserpage for this is shown in FIG. 8. In this case the user is brought toBidCrawler and is shown a list 80 of 600 MHZ computers (as is the VAIOPCV-J100) currently up for sale by auction. Note also that this secondstep in the activity is added to this history 72 on the right of theContext Bar.

Finally, the user may consider another similar computer, e.g., the usermay selects the VAIO PCV-R532DS from the pick list in the Context Bar.Then he clicks the “Reviews” service to see reviews of this model. Thiscauses the browser to jump back to CNET, again deep navigating to theappropriate page containing a review for that computer (FIG. 9). Alsothe activity history 72 on the right reflects that the user has nowreviewed two computers. If the user wants to jump back to the review forthe other computer, he can click on the PCV-J100 in that activityhistory tree.

Anyone who uses electronic media, such as the Internet through desktopor personal computers, web-enabled phones, personal digital assistants(“PDAs”) or other wireless or voice-based digital platforms, and pagersare in a position to benefit from the present invention. Moreover, aprovider of such media and services is able to leverage theinfrastructure to bring targeted users to them at just the right placein the value chain, opening new capacities for traditional up-sales andcross-sales.

The revenue streams that the system can generate include:

-   1. Affiliate traffic revenues. Users, in their attempt to find    information, generate traffic to a system partner and affiliate    sites, generating revenue for the system operator for each such    click-through.-   2. Affiliate sales revenue. Users participating in electronic    commerce through purchase or sale can generate a transaction-based    commission for the system operator. The system's client-side    software is closer to the users than web-based hub sites, making it    easier for the system operator to realize a large portion of the    commissions on this revenue.-   3. Technology licensing. Other service providers who wish to provide    tools such as the present invention, either on their web sites or    tied to their corporate intranets, can generate licensing revenues.-   4. Server-side software sales for businesses to plug into the    framework. Businesses that wish to use this framework to push cross    values and up values to a user's current activity may plug into the    framework by purchasing server side space from the system operator.    This is an excellent opportunity for using context marketing to    cross-sell products and services.

As noted previously, there is value in the system of the presentinvention to both users and service provider. In particular, users getthe benefits of targeted services anywhere on the web by means of asingle mouse click. This relieves the user of having to rememberparticular URLs. The system also provides the user with easy access torelevant information and services at a given site through one mouseclick, instead of having to surf through a site to find the relevantinformation. Thus, there is reduced repetition as users move from siteto site, since they do not need to restate again and again what they areseeking (for example, entering a stock symbol at E*Trade, then enteringit again at Edgar, and so on).

Similarly, service providers receive significant benefits from thesystem. They can target users anywhere on the web by a single mouseclick. This provides powerful new opportunities for cross-sales andother cross-functional services, even to users who are not vising theservice-provider's site (for example, allowing Amazon.com to selloverstocked computer books to someone shopping for a computer at Dell orGateway). In addition, the service providers get expanded reach tocurrent customers, affording a new dimension of customer retention forthat service provider. For example, Epinions.com might become thedefault or exclusive opinion provider for all users to whom itdistributes the system software, e.g., the browser plug-in. The provideralso gets relief from spending huge sums to aggregate services so thatusers are more likely to complete transactions at that site. As anexample, CNET by adding product reviews from customerreviews.com orepinions.com may cause more users to make purchasing decisions at CNET.

As noted in FIG. 7, while navigating the Internet, the user is presentedwith advertisements 74 which match the context suggested by thatnavigation. These advertisements may also provide links to affiliates.This is accomplished by a contextual advertisement and contextualaffiliate designation system which forms part of the present invention.This system is a design to enable companies using the present inventionto improve the performance of their online advertisements and affiliatemarketing by presenting users with advertisements and affiliate linksthat are in context with the mind sets of the users. The contextualadvertisements and affiliate links may be constructed in real time orthey may be carried out prior to use.

The contextual advertisement and contextual affiliate designation systemof the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 10. It includes an AdServer or the Affiliate Site 122 which implements the contextualadvertisement or contextual affiliate links, respectively, to improvethe performance of the advertisements or affiliate links it serves forother service providers. The Service Provider 16 as illustrated in FIG.10 is the company that uses the system to deliver advertisements whichpromote it's services or to provide links to its services. It may dothis directly or through an advertisement server or affiliate site 122.

The system also requires a Rules Registry 100, which is a data storethat identifies a set of unique rules for when an advertisement or anaffiliate link should be shown to a particular user. These rules aredefined by the Service Provider 16 to indicate when a particularadvertisement or affiliate link would be most relevant to a user. In theexample of a Service Provider that sells computer memory, it will definea particular rule (such as “object =computer & memory<=32MB”) and mapthat to a particular advertisement (such as “Upgrade your computer to 64MB). Note that an advertisement or affiliate link can be mapped to morethan one rule.

Below is a simplified illustration of the concept of a Rules Registry:

RULE AD or AFFILIATE LINK Object = “Computer” and Hard Upgrade to 4 GBHard Disk Space Disk <= “2 GB” Vertical = “Travel” and Destination =Discounts at Holiday Inn San “San Francisco” Francisco Vertical =“Travel” and Destination Discounts at Avis Rent-a-Car at Airport =“LaGuardia” LaGuardiaNote that the Rules Registry is also intended to be, but does not needto be, the following:

-   -   accessible via automated processes, such as electronic databases    -   edited by automated processes    -   edited by human experts

Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the system requires a Registry Editor 110that has the ability to create, read, update, and delete listings in theRules Registry. Note that a Registry Editor may be either a person 112or an automated tool 114, or a combination thereof.

Returning to FIG. 10, the final component of the system is the MatchMaker 30′, which is the company who implements the matching steps of thepresent invention. The functions of both the Ad Server or Affiliate Site122 and the Match Maker 30′ may be accomplished by the system'sadministrator. The Match Maker 30′ builds the advertisement and theaffiliate links on top of the context infrastructure of the rest of thepresent invention. In particular, the Match Maker 30′ parses the contentof the customer's current page, groups attributes to form structuredobjects, communicates with the Rules Registry 100 and produces a set ofcontextually relevant advertisements or affiliate links in responsethereto.

The process of constructing contextual advertisements or affiliate linksrequires interaction between a single user 10 and the AdvertisementServer or Affiliate Site 122, between the Advertisement Server orAffiliate Site and the Match Maker 30′ , between the Match Maker 30′ andthe Rules Registry 100, and also private work done by the Match Maker30′ itself. The process begins when the user browses the Internet andcompletes when the Advertisement Server or Affiliate Site (“A/ASite”)122 delivers the contextual advertisement or affiliate link backto the user. In particular, the process is as follows:

-   -   1. The user 10 starts browsing the Internet and comes across an        A/A Site 122 that has a contextual advertisement or affiliate        link embedded in it.    -   2. As the user browses, the server which hosts the A/A Site 122,        which serves the affiliate link. It sends the content of the        page the user is viewing to the CSP 120.    -   3. The CSP parses the content of the page that the user is        viewing and identifies the objects and their attributes which        are mentioned on the page. The CSP 120 intelligently groups        together the attributes belonging to a particular object. For        example, a page may mentions several computers and for each        computer, it may mention attributes such as brand, processor        type, and processor speed. The CSP will group together the        attributes belonging to each computer object and produce a list        of computer objects found on the page.    -   4. The CSP then cross-references the objects that are found with        the Rules Registry 100 to determine the set of contextual        advertisements or affiliate links that are relevant to the        current content. The CSP returns this set to the Advertisement        Server or Affiliate Site 122.    -   5. The A/A Site 122 may also apply additional rules, such as        user demographics, to pick a particular advertisement or        affiliate link if more than one is returned by the CSP 120.    -   7. The A/A Site provides the user with the contextual        advertisement or affiliate link.    -   8. The user 10 views the contextual advertisement or affiliate        link and clicks on it if he or she is interested in the        information shown. Clicking on the advertisement or affiliate        link makes a call to the Service Provider 16 asking for the        content of that particular advertisement or affiliate link.    -   9. The Service Provider 16 serves up the appropriate content to        the user.

In order to present the user with the most appropriate advertisement oraffiliate link, there must be processes to keep the Rules Registrycurrent and up to date. The maintenance is accomplished by processesinvolving the Rules Registry 100, the Registry Editors 100 and theService Provider 16. As noted above, this maintenance process isillustrated in FIG. 11. In particular, the Service Provider uses one ormore Registry Editors 110 (either person(s) or automated tool(s) or acombination thereof) to input new advertisements, affiliate links orrules, and update existing advertisements, affiliate links or rules.

In use the contextual advertisement and the contextual affiliate linksoftware and hardware provides an infrastructure that providescontextual presentation of the advertisements and links. As an example,if Hewlett-Packard (“HP”) is the Service Provider 16 which is usingcontextual advertisement, HP will define the rules for when itsadvertisement should be shown. If HP defines a rule that targets theselling of HP printers with Compaq computers, then when a user looks ata page with Compaq computers, the appropriate HP advertisement 128 willbe shown as illustrated in FIG. 12. In another example, assume thatBarnes and Noble is the Service Provider who has and affiliate programand CNET signs up to be Barnes and Noble's affiliate site. Then Barnesand Noble can defines a rule that an affiliate link for books on “PCComputers” should be shown when a user is looking at Dell computers. Asa result, when a user looks for Dell computers at CNET, the appropriateadvertisement and affiliate link 130 for Barnes and Noble is shown asillustrated in FIG. 13.

As these examples show, the contextual advertisement and contextualaffiliate link tools are very effective and powerful ways for companiesto improve the performance of their advertising efforts and theiraffiliate marketing efforts by providing contextual advertisements andaffiliate links. There is value in the system of the present inventionto both users and service providers. Users get the benefit of contextualadvertisements and links targeted to their mind set. Service providerswho use this technology get the benefit of greatly increasing theirrevenue and click-through rates by establishing a high correlationbetween the advertisements or affiliate links being served, and theuser's current mind set.

As a further means for leveraging the contextual technology of thepresent invention, a Service Provider using the system can improvecustomer retention through the use of a Contextual Icon. This icon isprovided by the system and designed to enable companies to improve theircustomer retention by presenting their customers with contextualservices anywhere on the Web. The contextual services may be constructedreal time or they may be constructed prior to use. As with the basiccontextual functionality, this additional functionality may beimplemented via a plug-in for the user's web browser, but it can also beimplemented in other ways.

A Context Service Provider is a company that implements the ContextualIcon by providing it to companies, e.g., Service Providers, who areinterested in using it to improve their customer retention. TheContextual Icon is customized to feature the services that are offeredby the Service Provider using the Contextual Icon. The Service Providerwill provide the user with the Contextual Icon so that the Customer hasaccess to the Service Provider's services from anywhere on the Web.

As shown in FIG. 14, this phase of the system requires an ObjectRegistry 140, which is a data store that identifies a set of uniqueobjects that are related to the services provided by the ServiceProvider. The registry maps each object to the set of services offeredby the Service Provider 16. In an example of a Service Provider whoprovides reviews on computers, the Service Provider will define theidentifying attributes of a computer object (such as brand, model,processor, etc) and map the object to the relevant service (e.g., theCompaq Presario 5001R maps to a review for that particular computer).Note that an object can be mapped to more than one service. In addition,note that the representation of these services in a user interface mayvary independent of the service descriptions captured in this registry.

Below is a simplified illustration of the concept of an Object Registry:

OBJECT SERVICE <computer brand = “Compaq” Review for a Compaq Presario5001R model = “Presario 5001R” computer with a 750 MHZ AMD ® processor =“750 MHZ AMD ® Duron ™ processor Duron ™”></computer> <computer brand =“Compaq” Review for a Compaq Presario 5001SR model = “Presario 5001SR”computer with a 800 MHZ AMD ® processor = “800 MHZ AMD ® Duron ™processor Duron ™”></computer> <computer brand = “Compaq” Review for aCompaq Presario 5003US model = “Presario 5003US” computer with a =″ 933MHZ Intel ® processor = “933 MHZ Intel ® Pentium ® III processorPentium ® III”></computer>Note that the Object Registry is also intended to be, but does not needto be, the following:

-   -   accessible via automated processes, such as electronic databases    -   edited by automated processes    -   edited by human experts        Further, as with the Mind set Registry 34 (FIG. 4) and the Rules        Registry 100 (FIG. 11), the system requires a Registry Editor        150 for the Object Registry 140 that has the ability to create,        read, update, and delete listings in the Object Registry (FIG.        15). Note that a Registry Editor may be either a person 152 or        an automated tool 154, or a combination of them.

Finally, the system of FIG. 14 needs a Match Maker 30”, which may besimilar in function to the Match Maker 30 of FIG. 4 and Match Maker 30′of FIG. 10. The Match Maker system's administrator is responsible formatching objects identified on a page with a collection of servicesoffered by the Service Provider 16 that are relevant to those objects.In order to do this, it parses the content of the customer's currentpage, groups attributes to form structured objects and communicates withthe Object Registry 140. For example, when the object “Compaq Presario5001 SR” is identified on the user's page, then the service “Review YourComputer” is mapped to the specific review of that object by thatservice provider. Note also that the Match Maker system's administratormay be implemented in the form of automated software, though it may alsotake other forms, such as one or more people, or a combination of peopleand automated technology tools. It is also intended to have, but neednot have, the following capabilities:

-   -   Rank services according to their priorities and/or        appropriateness to that customer at that time    -   Apply rules to the context of that customer, the customer's mind        set, and the collection of services. These rules include, but        are not limited to, identifying cross-selling opportunities and        up-selling opportunities.

The process of constructing contextual services requires interactionbetween a single customer or user 10 and the Internet, between theInternet and the Match Maker system's administrator, between the MatchMaker system's administrator and the Object Registry 140, and alsoprivate work done by the Match Maker itself as illustrated in FIG. 14.The process begins when the customer browses the Internet and completeswhen the Match Maker system's administrator delivers the contextualservices back to the customer. In particular, the process is as follows:

-   -   1. The Customer 10, who has downloaded and installed the        Contextual Icon on their web browser, starts browsing on the        Internet. As the Customer browses, the Contextual Icon sends the        content of the page the Customer is viewing to the Match Maker        system's administrator.    -   2. The Match Maker system's administrator parses the content of        the page that the Customer is viewing and identifies the objects        and their attributes which are mentioned on the page. The Match        Maker intelligently groups together the attributes belonging to        a particular object. For example, assume that a page mentions        several computers and mentions attributes for each computer,        such as brand, processor type, and processor speed. The Match        Maker will group together the attributes belonging to each        computer object and produce a list of computer objects found on        the page.    -   3. The Match Maker system's administrator next cross-references        the objects that are found with the Object Registry 140 to        determine the set of known services that are contextual, i.e.,        related, to the current page content.    -   4. The Match Maker may also apply a set of its own rules to add        special enhancements to the set of contextual services, such as        cross-selling and up-selling promotions.    -   5. The Match Maker system's administrator then provides the        customer 10 with a set of contextual services. This provision of        services may be implemented by sending the set of contextual        services encoded to the Contextual Icon or software, which        decodes the services and displays them to the customer via a        graphical user-interface (GUI) or other user interface.    -   6. The Customer 10 may then review the set of contextual        services presented by the Contextual Icon and click on a desired        service. By clicking on the service, a call is made to the        Service Provider, i.e., a link is established to the Service        Provider, requesting the content of that particular service.    -   7. The Service Provider then serves up the appropriate content        to the Customer for the service requested.

In order to create a set of contextual services that are accurate andtake maximum advantage of the services provided by the Service Provider,processes are necessary to keep the Object Registry current and up todate. This maintenance is accomplished by processes involving the ObjectRegistry 140, the Registry Editors 150 and the Service Provider 16. Thismaintenance process is illustrated in FIG. 15. In particular, theService Provider uses one or more Registry Editors 150 (either person(s)or automated tool(s) or a combination) to input new services, updateexisting services, input new object definitions, and update existingobject definitions in the Object Registry 140.

As an example of use of the Contextual Icon, if the Service Provider 16using the Contextual Icon is a coupon provider called E-centives, theContextual Icon 160 will appear on the customer's browser as shown inFIG. 16. In this example the Contextual Icon 160 has E-centives's logodisplayed in it. E-centives has to ask its customers to download andinstall the Contextual Icon before it appear's on the customer's webbrowser.

If the Customer with the Contextual Icon downloaded to his browserstarts browsing the Internet, goes to Amazon.com and looks at the “Blackand Blue” album by the “Back Street Boys” as shown in FIG. 16, the MatchMaker system's administrator parses the content of this page andidentifies the object “album” with attributes “title” equal to “Blackand Blue” and “artists” equal to “Back Street Boys”. Then the MatchMaker talks to the Object Registry 140 and identifies all the servicesthat are relevant. From contacting the Object Registry, the Match Makerfinds that there is a service for “Back Street Boys” and presents thecustomer with a service 170 called “Deals for Back Street Boys” as shownin FIG. 17. If this interests the Customer 10, the Customer can click onthe coupon service to see the details as shown in FIG. 18. The details180 in FIG. 18 show that there is a coupon available for “30% off onBlack & Blue Album.” The Customer can then click on the coupon and itwill take them directly to E-centives coupon page 190 for the Black andBlue album by the Back Street Boys as shown in FIG. 19.

As the example shows, the Contextual Icon tool is a very effective andpowerful way for companies to provide their services to their customerswhen and where it makes sense. There is value in the system of thepresent invention to both customers and service providers. Customers getthe benefit of targeted services anywhere on the web by means of asingle mouse click. This relieves the user or customer from having toremember particular URLs and names of services that they liked in thepast. Service providers who use this technology get the benefit ofgreatly increasing their customer retention by strengthening their tieswith their customers.

While a preferred embodiment of the present invention is describedherein, it is to be understood, of course, that changes andmodifications may be made in the embodiment without departing from thetrue scope and spirit of the present invention as defined by theappended claims.

1. A computer system for delivering targeted ads to a user operating astation for viewing web pages, the computer system being connected to adistributed computer network and comprising: an ad server whichmaintains a plurality of ads; a data store that stores a set of rulesassociated with the plurality of ads, the rules indicating a level ofrelevancy of one or more of the plurality of ads to one or morepredetermined objects and to one or more predetermined attributes whichcorrespond to the one or more predetermined objects; and a match makerconfigured to parse the content of a web page to identify one or moreobjects and one or more attributes in the content of the web page, tocross-reference the identified objects and the identified attributeswith the rules in the data store to determine whether at least one ofthe identified objects and one or more of the identified attributescomprise one of the predetermined objects and correspondingpredetermined attributes for which one or more of the plurality of adsare relevant, and to select one or more ads from the one or morerelevant ads as targeted ads for delivery over the distributed computernetwork to the station for display with the web page.
 2. The system asin claim 1, wherein the station is at least one of a personal computer,a pager, a Web-enabled phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), apen-based platform, a wireless digital platform, or a voice-basedplatform.
 3. The system as in claim 1, wherein the match maker isfurther configured to send information identifying the one or moretargeted ads to the ad server, and the ad server is further configuredto deliver the one or more targeted ads over the distributed computernetwork to the station for display with the web page.
 4. The computersystem as in claim 1, wherein the at least one identified object and oneor more identified attributes include a keyword extracted from thecontent of the web page.
 5. A method implemented on a computer systemfor delivering targeted ads to a user at a station, wherein the stationis configured for displaying web pages and the computer system isconnected to a distributed computer network, and the computer system isfurther configured to communicate with an ad server that stores aplurality of ads for delivery to the station and with a data store thatstores a set of rules associated with the plurality of ads, the rulesindicating a level of relevancy of one or more of the plurality of adsto one or more predetermined objects and to one or more predeterminedattributes corresponding to the one or more predetermined objects, themethod comprising the steps of: receiving the content of a web page tobe displayed at the station over the distributed computer network;parsing the received content of the web page to identify one or moreobjects and one or more attributes in the received content of the webpage; cross-referencing the identified objects and identified attributeswith the set of rules stored in the data store to determine whether atleast one of the identified objects and one or more of the identifiedattributes comprise one of the predetermined objects and correspondingpredetermined attributes for which one or more of the plurality of adsare relevant; and selecting one or more targeted ads from the one ormore relevant ads for delivery over the distributed computer network tothe station for display with the web page.
 6. The method as in claim 5wherein the station is at least one of a personal computer, a pager, aWeb-enabled phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a pen-basedplatform, a wireless digital platform, or a voice-based platform.
 7. Themethod as in claim 5, further comprising the step of: sendinginformation identifying the one or more targeted ads to the ad server,whereby the ad server delivers the one or more targeted ads over thedistributed computer network to the station for display with the webpage.
 8. The method as in claim 5, wherein the at least one identifiedobject and one or more identified include a keyword extracted from thecontent of the web page.